Investigation of mechanical, microstructure, and wear behaviors of Al-12%Si/reinforced with melon shell ash particulates

The use of agricultural wastes which is cost-effective and environmental-friendly materials as reinforcers in metal matrix composites is growing fast in various engineering fields. With this, the research investigates the mechanical, microstructure, and wear behaviors of Al-12%Si alloy reinforced with melon shell ash (MSA) for developing a new material. Melon shell ash of particle size of 50 μm was prepared for the studies. Different weight percentages of 5, 10, 15, and 20 MSA were used to develop metal matrix composites for the investigations. The melon shell ash was characterized by X-ray fluorescent (XRF). The morphology of the alloy and composites were studied using scanning electron microscope for the distribution of melon shell ash (MSA) particles. The XRF revealed some oxides with silica (SiO2) being the highest followed by potassium oxide (K2O), alumina (Al2O3). The results of the mechanical properties indicate that the tensile strength increased from 122.5 MPa in the alloy to 204.5 MPa in composites, the hardness values increased from 95 HRC to 103.1 HRC, the impact energies decreased from 17.5 to 14.0 J and percentage elongation also decreased from 35.3 to 16.0 respectively. The wear rate decreases from 0.022 to 0.0091 g/min. The microstructures revealed that the MSA was uniformly distributed within the composites and resulted to the appreciable increase or decrease in the mechanical properties which were attributed to the oxides present. The composites can be used in automobile industries where some of these properties can be explored.